JERUSALEM (AP) — At least one Palestinian was killed and another wounded during an Israeli military raid late Monday in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The military said security forces arrested two suspects and confiscated a handgun, ammunition and cash. It said the troops came under fire when they entered Jenin’s refugee camp and shot back at the gunmen. No security forces were harmed in the operation, it said.
The Health Ministry did not provide further information on the deceased.
Israeli forces have carried out regular operations into Jenin in recent months that the military says are aimed at dismantling militant networks in the wake of several deadly attacks inside Israel. The raids often ignite gunbattles with Palestinian militants.
Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group that has carried out dozens of attacks on Israelis over the years, said the raid targeted one of its leaders in Jenin, Bassam al-Saadi, It was not immediately clear if al-Saadi was arrested or wounded. The group said it was going “on alert” and raising its readiness in response.
Jenin, home to a large refugee camp, has long been seen as a bastion of Palestinian militancy.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built more than 130 settlements across the territory that are home to nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers. The Palestinians want the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians, to form the main part of their future state.
The last serious peace talks broke down more than a decade ago.
